An origin theory for the name "Buzzard" (1 Viewer)

[insectcollector]

In the Old World the term Buzzard refers to any number of birds of prey however, in the New World the term is hardly ever used for birds of prey but sometimes used as a colloquial slang for vultures.

I grew up calling vultures "buzzards" until I learned their proper names, even though, every now and then when see a vulture the name buzzard comes to mind.

I do not know if there is a connection between calling vultures in the New World "buzzards" because there were "big birds" in the Old World that are called buzzards, but I have a diffferent theory.

I believe that vultures are called buzzards in the New World becasue of the behavior of the fledglings to blow air through there nostrils causing a buzzing sound that is quite loud. I have encountered several roosts/nests and if you get close to one with young they will begin to buzz ferociously in defense. The sound is quite dramatic and sounds like a beehive awakened. I have encountered my share of those too. They buzz so lets call them buzzards.

So what do you think? Could the reason for the the term "buzzard" for the vultures in the New World be rooted in this behavior?

Have a great day!

 

[John Cantelo]

Old world buzzards got their name via the latin buteo, itself thought to be an onomatopoeic represntation of that species' shrill cry. However, the name 'buzzard' was often attached to any medium sized broad winged raptor - hence it was also applied to Red Kite, Marsh Harrier (Moor Buzzard), Hen Harrier (Grey Buzzard) & Osprey (Bald Buzzard). Regrettably, since I rather like the proposed theory, I think that in the 'New World' this habit of attaching the name 'buzzard' to any large broad-winged bird was simply continued. That this same word didn't 'stick' to the native 'hawks' is probably merely a matter of chance - the same chance that meant we ended up with 'diver' whilst America got 'loon'. Should you delve amongst old American folk names I rather think that you will find 'buzzard' used for 'hawks' too,

 

[fugl]

Interesting thought, but my guess is that "buzzard" got applied to New World Vultures because they reminded the early settlers of the birds they knew back home as "buzzards" (what we now call "buteos"). A more interesting question to me, is why we call buteos "hawks" rather than "buzzards". I haven't done any research on this but my guess is that "hawk" & "buzzard" were in general folk use for all kinds of birds of prey in the UK during the colonial period & that modern British usage--distinguishing between "falcon", "buzzard", "hawk", "harrier" etc--didn't get established in a hard & fast way until later. But as I say, this is just guesswork on my part.

As far as the NW vultures are concerned, I use "buzzard" all the time. Why not, it's established American (folk) usage--everybody knows what it means, and there is no law saying that we have to adopt the bird book names for everything?. Anyway, if we want to be pedantic--& I don't--they're not "really" vultures either, since they're not closely related to the OW birds of that name. "Condors", maybe?

Edit: Oops--I see John Cantelo has beat me to the punch on much of this and with facts, not just guesswork..

 

[TwoDipsfromAmsterdam]

Oh, this thread strikes home. Being married to an American I frequently get into debates about buzzards not being those "ugly critters" such as Turkey Vultures. But I have some sympathy with fugl - if you've been brought up to see virtually any raptor as a "buzzard" then it's a hard habit to break. But driving around my native Devon and being pleased to see a "Buzzard" loses something when the voice beside me says "Yuk - horrible ugly creatures".

Whilst on the subject though - I do think the French have cracked it as far as Common Buzzard is concerned - here it's busard variable. Has a bird ever been better named?!

Pip pip
Dip

 

[colonelboris]

Might be even further back than Latin as the same root appears in German (Bussard) and Dutch (Buizerd). However, in Spain, Italy and Portugal (languages not too far removed from Latin), they have very different words. Mind you, Latin spoken on the streets and in the provinces could be considerably different from that of the formal version (hence we use 'cat' instead of 'feline' - from the vulgar Latin 'cattus'), so it's not too surprising if different places that have been influenced by Latin have different names for a species.
I upset someone in the taxonomy section by suggesting that if the IOC wants to standardise everything, then why aren't they renaming N.A. hawks as buzzards...

 

[fugl]

I upset someone in the taxonomy section by suggesting that if the IOC wants to standardise everything, then why aren't they renaming N.A. hawks as buzzards...

Give them time, they will (or vice versa, of course).

 

[colonelboris]

Give them time, they will (or vice versa, of course).

And then they'll change it back, then change it to something else, then change it back, then split them, lump them, shuffle them in the list, all so it makes it easier for us to name them, you see...

 

[nickderry]

Whilst on the subject though - I do think the French have cracked it as far as Common Buzzard is concerned - here it's busard variable. Has a bird ever been better named?!

Pip pip
Dip

I agree that the 'variable' bit is very descriptive, but Buzzard is 'buse' in French, 'busard' being used for the harriers. (As I'm sure you knew!)

 

[wintibird]

I read once that the german Bussard has it's root in the middle ages. Büsi was an ancient word for cat (and is still used today in Switzerland) and Aar meant Eagle. Hence Büsiaar = Cateagle, meaning the raptor who cries like a cat. And that's what Common Buzzards do.

André

 

[Barred Wobbler]

I read once that the german Bussard has it's root in the middle ages. Büsi was an ancient word for cat (and is still used today in Switzerland) and Aar meant Eagle. Hence Büsiaar = Cateagle, meaning the raptor who cries like a cat. And that's what Common Buzzards do.

André

"Büsi", the origin of pussy? Sounds similar.

 

[colonelboris]

If it's effectively common to English, German and Dutch, it probably dates back to early Germanic languages, so could be a root that's a couple of thousand years old, same as Snipe/Schnepfe/Snip, etc.